Crime Statistics of Waterford Michigan vs Pontiac Michigan

This paper compares the crime statistics of Waterford Michigan and Pontiac Michigan towns in the State of Michigan. The crime data from Waterford and Pontiac has notable differences as well as some similar characteristics that are discussed below.

Crime Summary for the year 2016

Crime

Rate in Waterford

Rate in Pontiac

Violent Crime

1.45

12.68

Property Crime

11.1

24.12

Crime rate per 1000 Residents

12.55

36.80

Crimes per Square Mile

30

108

Likelihood of Becoming a Victim

1 out of 690

1 out of 79

Table 1 Waterford and Pontiac Michigan Crime data for the year 2016 (Neighborhood Scout and City Data)

As seen from the above table, the two cities exhibit different crime patterns. The Pontiac area recorded a higher crime rate with 36.8 per 1000 residents compared to 12.55 in Waterford. The number of crimes per square mile is high in Pontiac. This indicates that there are more crimes in the Pontiac region and hence less secure than in Waterford. The probability of a person becoming a victim of crime is, therefore, lower in Waterford. One similarity is that property crimes tend to be high in both areas. This means property safety is lower in both cities.

Crime Breakdown for Waterford and Pontiac Michigan in the Year 2016

Crime

Rate in Waterford

(per 100,000 residents)

Rate in Pontiac

(per 100,000 residents)

Burglary

253.7

866.6

Motor Vehicle theft

94.1

223.3

Murder

1.4

25

Rape

34.1

110

Robbery

28.6

201.7

Assault

68.2

911.2

Table 2 Major crimes in Waterford and Pontiac Michigan (Neighborhood Scout and City Data)

From the table above, it can be seen that Pontiac reported the highest number of crimes in all categories in 2016. The murder rate at Pontiac was 25 per 100000 compared to 1.4 in Waterford. The most significant disparity is in the assault cases where Pontiac rate was 911.2 whereas, in Waterford, the rate was 68.2. The number of burglary cases in both cities is high implying that property theft is rampant.

Works Cited

City Data. Crime Rate in Pontiac, Michigan (MI). 2017. Web. 28 Feb. 2018: http://www.city-         data.com/crime/crime-Pontiac-Michigan.html

Neighborhood Scout. Waterford, MI Crime Rates. 2017. Web. 28 Feb. 2018.                                             https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/mi/waterford/crime